Dallas Area Man Barred by Court from Operating Tax Service

Prepared Federal Income Tax Returns Falsely Showing No Income

WASHINGTON – A federal court in Dallas has permanently barred Arlington, Texas,
businessman Phillip M. Ballard from preparing federal income tax returns for
anyone other than himself, the Justice Department announced today. U.S. District
Court Judge Jorge A. Solis issued the civil injunction order, which also bars
Ballard from representing customers before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The court found that Ballard, whose business is called Asset & IRS Shield,
Inc., illegally prepared federal income tax returns for customers that falsely
showed nothing but zeros on most if not all lines. The “zero return” scheme has
been on past IRS annual lists of the Dirty Dozen tax scams. A notorious tax
resister who promoted the zero-return scheme, Irwin Schiff, is currently serving
a prison sentence following his criminal conviction for promoting the scam.

The court’s order also requires Ballard to notify his customers of the
injunction and prohibits him from advertising tax return preparation services on
his Web site.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 310
injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of
fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice
Department website, as is information about the Justice Department’s Tax
Division.